Mission at the Ministry
by sockthief
Summary: Lily and James are fresh out of Hogwarts and full fledged members of the Order of the Phoenix. They are sent on a mission that doesn't exactly go as planned. How will their relationship impact their performance in the Order?


I got carried away per usual, but here is a piece per request on tumblr. I rather like how it turned out. As always, reviews are appreciated.

This one's for you, legolas-thegreenleaf !

Disclaimer: Every day I wake up with the crippling realization that I am not the mother of the Harry Potter universe.

0o0

"Shit, there are a lot of them." James Potter swore quietly, so as to be heard only by his comrades and not by the multiple death eaters who were currently positioned in strategic points near the floos of the atrium in the Ministry of Magic. Workers passed by quickly and passively to the lifts to take them to their various floors or otherwise to the row of floo network systems to attend to other business matters, or perhaps a smoke break.

"Stay calm, we've done this sort of thing before. Everyone know the plan?" Emmeline Vance, the head of this particular operation, asked. Everyone, being James Potter, Lily Evans, and Caradoc Dearborn, nodded. "Good. You know what to do, Doc." And with that, the middle aged wizard left the cover of the Fountain of Magical Brethren, where the four had been sitting nonchalantly. Dressed as though he worked there in the Ministry, Doc matched his pace to those around him, joining the throng of witches and wizards headed towards the floos.

Emmeline, Lily and James, dressed a bit more casually, stood and walked calmly to one of the lifts and waited without appearing to seem too anxious to the Ministry workers around them.

Doc took out his wand surreptitiously so as not to attract attention and flourished it ever so slightly, and using a nonverbal spell, caused a thick cloud of smoke to seemingly rise from the marble floor and fill the atrium. The death eaters were all on guard, firing stunning spells into the crowd. While people panicked, Doc ran to catch the lift, and as soon as he was on, the lift jolted backwards and then upwards, causing its passengers to shake about.

"That ought to cause a long enough distraction!" Doc called as he was thrown off balance by the lift's uneven movements.

The lift came to an abrupt halt, signaling the arrival at their destination: Level Four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. The four stepped off and Emmeline once again reminded the group of the plan.

"Remember," she explained, "Get in, get the information, and leave. Don't get caught."

"Wait a moment; I thought we were all going in together?" Lily spoke up in confusion of the change in orders.

"Dumbledore got word from one of our assets last minute. He says that more death eaters have found their way into powerful positions than we thought. They're getting their hands on classified information, which in turn is increasing the size of their army."

"What are you getting at?" Lily questioned.

"You two are sneaking into the Werewolf Registry Office. Get a copy of the list so we can start recruiting before they do." Emmeline explained, directing her sentence to Lily and James.

"I'm sorry, but do you think this is a joke? You know who my best mate is, right?"

"Mmm, we thought it'd be a cause near and dear to your heart, James." Emmeline quipped.

"And the two of you are still going to the Department of Securities?" Lily asked, while James scowled.

"Someone's got to figure out who stationed those death eaters down in the atrium." Doc waved as he and Emmeline stepped back on to the lift.

"In and out. We'll meet you back at the base." Emmeline characteristically reminded them. And then they were gone, ascending to Level Two, leaving James and Lily alone.

"Don't let it bother you, James." Lily told him, not even looking at his face to know that he was still upset.

"They could have told us before we arrived, don't you think?"

"Come off it; let's go find that office before people start returning from the atrium." She gripped her wand with one hand and gripped his with the other, pulling him down the hall in search of the Werewolf Registry Office. Trying to distract him, Lily asked a question, "So what do you know about this division? What is the Werewolf Registry?"

James sighed, guessing at her ploy but humoring her anyway, "It's where a list is kept of all the werewolves. 'Course, some of them try to avoid being added by keeping," he paused as a short woman with frizzy brown hair passed them, too distracted by the papers in her hand to pay the pair much attention. James continued when she passed, "by keeping to themselves and finding their own accommodations but accidents happen and they're found." He explained. Lily shuddered.

"Is Remus on the list?"

"I suppose he is." James answered solemnly, as if realizing for the first time that Remus's secret wasn't much of a secret at all. It seemed a much bigger deal to him in their Hogwarts days, when absolutely no one was supposed to have known.

They became silent, but remained hand in hand down the hall. They took a left at the end, guessing correctly on the direction when they came upon a door with a plaque reading:

Werewolf Registry

Fenrir Greyback

"Fenrir Greyback," Lily read, "Do you know of him?"

"I've never met him," James said, trying the lock, "but I've seen him in photographs. He doesn't look like someone you'd want to mess with. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a death eater." He tried another unlocking spell, to no avail, "What's so important behind this door you can't use a simple "alohomora' to unlock it?"

"I don't think it's a simple charm," Lily stepped in front of him, "Here, let me try something." She concentrated on the lock and a moment later, the pair heard a faint click from the other side of the door. Lily smiled triumphantly as turned the knob and let herself into the office. Fortunately, no one was inside.

"Bloody show off." Lily rolled her eyes at him and began rummaging through the large, wooden desk set up in the middle of the room. The room was small, and a bookshelf lined the wall behind the desk, making it feel smaller. James sat in one of the two chairs facing the desk, rifling through some letters stacked on top of it.

"Make yourself comfortable, why don't you." Lily commented sardonically as she moved on to another drawer.

"If I'm going to risk my life, I'm going to do it how I please." Lily rolled her eyes again but didn't argue the point.

"I think I've got it!" Lily cried as she pulled a short stack of official looking paper from a drawer. She flipped through it quickly; making sure it was what they needed. James took it from her grasp, taking a closer look at the parchment. He pointed to a name on the second page and slid it back to Lily.

"Remus." She said sadly. They were silent for a moment, just staring at the page. Lily sighed, "We've got to go, James." And with that, she waved her wand, conjuring a duplicate set of the list. Upon doing so, a familiar name caught her eye.

"James. James, this is huge, we've got to tell Dumbledore."

"Yeah, yeah, we've got to get out of her first… shit." He swore upon reading the name Lily was now pointing at, "Fenrir Greyback is a werewolf?"

And it was at this precise moment when the werewolf himself returned to his office with the frizzy haired witch standing behind him. James hastily folded up their copy of the list and stuffed it into his jacket pocket before turning to meet the new arrivals.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you not to touch things that don't belong to you?" he said in a falsely sweet voice, made even more terrifying by the natural gruffness of it, which complemented his looks. His hair was long and black, pulled back into an elastic. He had broad shoulders and defined muscles, something that James would have been envious of, if not for the urgency of the current situation.

"Wouldn't the Minister like to know what you're hiding? I bet that would go over well with your party. What are they called again? Death eaters?" James retorted pointedly. Greyback just smiled, as if amused.

"James…" Lily whispered under her breath.

"Why don't you put that back where you found it? I'll have McAlister here wipe your memories and you can be on your way."

"And you're really going to let us get off that easy?" James asked forcefully, grasping his wand tighter at his side. Lily gave him a pointed look, which he could not see from his now standing position in front of the desk. She too drew out her wand. Greyback smiled again, taking a bold stance in front of the doorway, blocking it from escape.

"It seems as though I won't have a choice." He nodded at McAlister and before Lily and James could even aim, they were flung back by a rather powerful stunning spell. Before they had the chance to recover, she sent another spell their way, a jet of purple light that slowly paralyzed the pair, sending them into a temporary sleep.

When they awoke, unknowing how much time had passed, they found themselves on the opposite sides on what appeared to be an unused office. The layout seemed to mimic that of Greyback's office but lacked the adornments that would signal regular use.

Quickly assessing this information, James attempted to stand up and found that he couldn't. His hands and ankles were bound by magic, and he guessed that the same held true for Lily as well. He called her name, checking to see if she was conscious. Her eyes fluttered and she took a deep breath as she sat up straighter, assessing the room as James had only minutes before.

"This is exactly what Emmeline told us not to do. I hope her and Doc got out alright." She sighed.

"Not our finest moment."

"Shhh!" she whispered, interrupting him, "I think they're outside the door." James, being the closer of the two to the threshold, awkwardly scooted with his limbs bound towards the door so to eavesdrop. He listened closely for a moment.

"I think it's just Greyback and that witch. She must work for him." He told her. And because luck did not seem to be on their side, the door opened, admitting Greyback and McAlister. He kicked James square in the stomach, causing him to roll back into the room. Greyback paced between Lily and James while McAlister lingered by the door. Upon closer inspection, Lily could see that the witch's hair wasn't necessarily frizzy, but curly and unkempt. Her features were angular and she didn't smile, as Greyback seemed to enjoy doing. Her frame was slight, similar to that of Lily's, only shorter. She was silent.

"We've received word from the Dark Lord that due to your affiliation with the Order, we must detain you until he figures out what he wants to do with you."

"How do you know we're in the Order?" Lily asked at the same time James said,

"What Order?"

They gave each other pointed looks from across the room. Greyback gave a not so comforting laugh and he explained as he took a few steps towards Lily,

"There's no mistaking _him_," and he pointed to James, "That's Charlus Potter's son. The resemblance is uncanny. The Potter's are known bloodtraitors" If not for the severity of where she sat, Lily would have laughed. James had always thought of himself as good looking, but catching a glimpse of his face between Greyback's pacing legs, she figured he did not count it as a blessing just then. "And as for you," he turned his attention back to the redhead, "You are guilty by association."

"So are we supposed to just sit here, then?" James spoke, "Hardly a way to treat guests." Greyback growled at him.

"You're lucky _he_ wants you alive for the time being, or else I'd turn you." He threatened, shutting James up on the spot.

Lily suddenly had a thought, because there really wasn't much else she could do while bounded, wandless, and seated on the floor.

_They want and army of werewolves._ She mused. Having as many known werewolves as possible join their side would be beneficial for the death eaters, yes, but not all werewolves were purebloods. Lily's heart raced as she realized something dangerous yet tragic at the same time.

_They're going to turn as many people as they can, make them fight, and kill them when the war's over._

She was abruptly pulled from her train of thought with a rather harsh slap across the face.

"I asked for your name." Greyback snarled at her. She held back tears from the force of the blow and said the first thing that came into her head.

"It's…Jamie Dearborn." She blurted out. Greyback pondered this a moment then turned rather ungracefully to McAlister, who hadn't moved from the doorway.

"Check it." He ordered, and she left. Lily tried not to show the apprehension she was feeling. She could see James's mind racing to find a way out, knowing her alibi would not hold once McAlister returned. He slowly moved his bound hands around his right side, slowly reaching for the back pocket of his trousers. Lily noticed, but did not call attention to him.

McAlister came back, and for the first time since their initial encounter, she spoke,

"She's lying." Greyback immediately turned to Lily, smiling menacingly.

"So if not a bloodtraitor, then a Mudblood." Lily flinched.

"Don't call her that!" James shouted, earning him a contemplative stare from Greyback.

"A bit sentimental, are we? Is this love, Mr. Potter?" Fire flared in James's eyes as he carefully chose his next words.

"No, we just work together. Doesn't mean you can call her that, though." He defended.

"We shall see." And with that, Greyback nodded to McAlister, who had lingered once again at the doorway, but now took a step forward. Lily could not hide her fear and her pounding heartbeat. The witch raised her wand and looked Lily square in the eye. Suddenly, Lily couldn't breathe, as though the wind had been knocked right out of her. Though she tried to catch her breath, air did not seem to fill her lungs. She fell uncomfortably on her side, as her wrists and ankles were still bound, and gasped for breath. James watched in distress.

"Stop! You're killing her!? He cried out.

"The spell isn't meant to kill. It's not an Unforgivable Curse. Though I suppose if given enough time…" the werewolf trailed off, "Though I can't help but wonder, if she were gone, would you have anything left to fight for?"

James glared at Greyback, digging for his wand in his pocket, trying to do it quickly and remain undetected.

"What is her name, Potter? What does the Order want?"

Lily continued to writhe on the floor.

James dug deeper.

"Reducto!" he shouted, knocking Greyback into the far wall, throwing McAlister off balance. Lily was released from the spell. She coughed and sputtered, still seeming unable to inhale to her full capacity.

Seizing the opportunity, James broke the bonds around his ankles and stood up, sending a confundo curse, hoping it hit the two wizards while he freed his wrists and grabbed Lily's wand from its place on the desk.

"Lily!" he called, tossing her wand in her direction. She caught it and removed her invisible shackles while James shot another spell. Lily stood up and wobbled as she did so and James caught her under the elbow. He pulled her in the direction of the doorway, but not before Lily shot a jet of orange light behind her, causing a ring of fire to erupt in a ring around their assailants.

The two of them ran down the hall, not quite sure where in the Ministry they were. They kept running anyway, James keeping a tight grip on Lily's arm all the while.

Finally reaching the lifts, the pair jumped on the nearest one, giving the three witches already on it quite a shock. The lift flung them about. Lily and James fell to the floor; too busy trying to catch their breaths instead of holding onto the bar that ran across the top of the compartment.

Once in the atrium, Lily and James scrambled from the lift and ran. Doc's thick smoke had vanished and the death eaters were back in their positions and had noticed the pair. The floos were no longer an option.

"Shit."

"We need to disapparate." Lily said.

"The lake." James whispered. And they were gone with a crack, sucked up in a vortex of soft color, which turned dark blue as they landed, knee deep in cold, murky water.

Lily immediately began traipsing her way out of the vile water, finding an odd sense of comfort as her now soaked shoes found dry land. James followed her, attempting to grab her hand. She ripped it away and kept a steady pace, several feet ahead of him. James, wondering what he had done wrong, silently followed.

The spot they had apparated to was Combewell Wood, in the forest outside of Sparrow's Green. It was here where the Order of the Phoenix headquarters were located. The woods brought protection from curious muggles and powerful charms and enchantments were placed over the old cabin to obscure it from anyone not already privy to its location.

It was a decent trek from Bewl Water, where they had landed, to the base and the tension was escalating, though neither of them did anything about it except keep their respective paces.

When they finally did reach the cabin, they gave the password to Edgar Bones and were let in to be greeted by Emmeline.

"We were so worried! What happened to you?" she asked, hugging the both of them.

"It's a rather long story." Lily responded, motioning to their wet trousers.

"Come in and sit. You can tell us all about it." She herded them into the sitting room where Doc was sitting next to Elphias Doge and Edgar Bones, who immediately brightened up once James and Lily sat. Emmeline brought them each a cup of tea, which James gladly sipped. Lily, though appreciative, asked

"Is Dumbledore here?"

"He's in the study. I'll go fetch him." Lily thanked Emmeline and she left the small sitting room to find Albus Dumbledore, Head of the Order.

"What happened in there? You two look horrible." Edgar asked, not realizing the mistake in his choice of words.

"The head of the Werewolf Registry is a werewolf himself. Not that it's a bad thing, but it is when he's a death eater." James answered sarcastically and in a harsher tone of voice than he had meant. Elphias Doge shook his head somberly.

"This is getting out of hand. Any one of the Ministry officials could be working for him! Worse yet, they could be under the Imperious, making it even more difficult to sort them out." He blustered.

"If we could just come face to face with You-Know-Who and finish him off, we wouldn't have to worry about the Ministry. All of his followers would weed themselves out."

"You can't be that naïve, Ed. Killing You-Know-Who would be nice, yes, but finishing him off would just lead to a power struggle within the ranks. They all have the same blood purification beliefs. He just wants it the most."

"Our priority is getting death eaters out of ministry positions." Elphias argued.

"Our priority is stopping their growing army." Was Edgar's contradiction, not seeing how one relied on the other, as his elder did.

"One battle at a time, gentlemen." Dumbledore silenced them as he entered the room, Doc trailing behind him.

"Albus," Lily stood, still feeling slightly uncomfortable about calling Dumbledore by his first name, even though he insisted some four months earlier upon her completion of Hogwarts, "Our asset was correct. Fenrir is a death eater. He's also on the Werewolf Registry. Show him, James."

James took the duplicate list from his jacket pocket, handing it to Dumbledore. He pointed out Fenrir Greyback's name on the first page.

"It would seem as though his position in the Ministry makes him more personable to his own kind." Dumbledore mused, "I suspect his favor of Voldemort makes him valuable in recruiting others." A shudder rippled through the room at the sound of his name but Dumbledore always used it, and encouraged others to do the same.

"I have a theory about that, actually," Lily intervened, "While we were otherwise tied up," she gave James a look and he quickly averted he stare, "Greyback said something to James that made me wonder- what if they're not only recruiting werewolves to the cause, but turning halfbloods and muggle-borns for the sake of an army?" The room went silent as they pondered Lily's words. James met her eyes, and made a quizzical expression as though he had just remembered something important.

"I'm pretty sure death eaters aren't any more accepting of werewolves than some sane wizards are. They wouldn't want an army of werewolves." James countered.

"No, they wouldn't," Lily seethed, "But they wouldn't necessarily need them for long, would they? Theoretically, if they win, they would start a new genocide. Greyback already has access to the list. He would be the one adding on to it."

"But then he would be killing off his own kind. That's not to say he won't be killed as well." Doc added thoughtfully.

"These are all very interesting theories, but until we have a legal allegation against him, we cannot inquire for his termination at the Ministry. Elphias," Dumbledore turned to face him, "Will you contact Dorcas Meadowes and have her pay close attention to our new friend, Mr. Greyback?" Elphias nodded and left the room quickly, sensing the tension as Dumbledore had, "And Caradoc, will you kindly bring this news to Minervra at Hogwarts? I'm afraid I have other matters to attend to before I return." Doc followed Elphias out of the sitting room.

Emmeline and Edgar gave each other subtle looks from across the room as Lily and James continued to silently fume at each other.

"Well, I suppose the tea is cold now. I'll just take these out of your way…" Emmeline excused herself, taking the half empty teacups with her.

"I actually wouldn't mind another." Edgar lamented, standing and following her into the kitchen.

Dumbledore gave a small smile, though neither James nor Lily noticed. Sensing the frustration between the two, he spoke up.

"I hope you are not regretting your decision to join the Order." This pulled Lily out from herself sharply. Her face softened as she spoke to her old headmaster.

"No! Not at all! We chose this. It's our fight too. Well, mine anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?" James argued, jumping up and running a hand through his hair as he seemed to do more and more lately out of strain and not of arrogance.

"It seems as though you two have something to discuss. I am not asking you to put your lives in danger, but your presence in the Order is, I believe, an advantage. However, I do not wish to burden you with such a responsibility." Dumbledore commented. Lily tried to make her amends but was silenced by the wizard, "Please take your time. If you'll excuse me, I must depart in light of the information Emmeline and Doc received from their trip to the Department of Securities. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Albus."

"G'night."

The aging wizard quietly left the cabin and when he was clear of the magical barriers, the two heard a faint crack as he disapparated.

"Alright, what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you acting like you know who's right and wrong?" James demanded of Lily.

"Well why are _you_ acting like you don't want to be here?" She retorted without missing a beat, "I'm sorry if this is too much for you but this is my fight. I cannot and will not stand by idly while You-Know-Who murders the people I care about and hunts the type of witch that I am. Why did you even join, James?"

"It's my fight, too! You think I don't believe in equality? You think I want to stand around while people die? Bloody Hell, _we_ almost died tonight!" James yelled back at her.

"And it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been so sentimental!"

"What do you mean 'sentimental'?"

"Remus. Me. You let yourself get distracted!" her eyes bore into hers, daring him to challenge her. He did.

"Oi! That's hardly fair! I was looking out for you!"

"I can take care of myself, James."

"I know you can. Doesn't mean I can't help out sometimes! Besides, looked like you needed help."

"So this _is_ sentiment. You can't handle yourself if another wizard comes near me."

"He was going to kill you!"

"We had a clear mission! I'm one witch, James! We have the whole wizarding world to think about!"

"How can you even say that? A piece of paper is _not_ worth your life. I got the duplicate _and_ I got us out of there _not dead,_ might I add. I think it was a success." James began pacing in the middle of the room, running his hand through his hair in anger.

"How did you get us out by the way?" Lily asked, suddenly curious.

"Duplicated my wand when I duplicated the list. I put the real one in my pocket. Extension charm." He explained in clipped phrases, still angry with her.

"Why are we fighting, James?" Lily sighed and sank back down onto the sofa, unaware of when she had stood up during the argument. He came over to sit next to her and draped an arm over her shoulders and she rested her head on his chest.

"I want to be here," Lily said quietly, "Fighting with the Order."

"Me too." And they were silent for a moment, listening to each other breathe quietly. James smiled and chuckled softly, causing Lily to look up at him questioningly.

"Jamie? Really?"

"Shut it." Lily rolled her eyes as James kissed her forehead.


End file.
